Studio: international art (59.1913)

Studio-Talk

“THE WARSAW SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY”

to the reader. He is more severe in his designs
than Eduard Witnmer, but there is a peculiar
fascination in this severity. Prof. Hoffmann is
always original, but he never seeks after mere
effectiveness; his aim is not to produce something
different from his brother artists but to create an
object which is really a work of art in the highest
sense of the term. He prefers repousse gold or
silver as materials in which his designs for jewellery
are to be executed, and his knowledge of these
metals is such that he can produce exquisite tones
and shades in their manipulation. Eduard Wimmer’s
designs are more graceful, more dainty, they emanate
from a mind rich in fancy with a penchant for flowing
lines. Like Prof. Hoffmann he is a keen student of
materials, and he knows exactly what their possi-
bilities are. Reference to the accompanying
illustrations will show the different styles of these
two gifted artists. A. S. L.

WARSAW.—The portrait group of
which a reproduction appears at
the top of this page has a some-
what singular history. It repre-
sents the leading members of the Warsaw Scientific
Society and was recently presented to the Society
by the painter, Stanislaw Lentz, a native of Poland.

BY STANISI.AW LENTZ

Some two or three years ago a wealthy inhabitant
of Warsaw, impelled by a strong desire to bring
about a revival of Polish historical painting, which
after the death of Jan Matejko underwent a marked
decline, initiated a competition for a painting which
should have as its motive some incident in Polish
history. As was to be expected, in view of present-
day tendencies in art, the result of this competition
was very meagre, but to the astonishment of jury and
public alike there figured among the works sent in
(comparatively few in number) this portrait group
painted by Stanislaw Lentz. The painter was
apparently of opinion that a gathering of the
leading men of science in Poland—among them
being Professors Jablonowski, Korzon, Dikstein,
Chlebowski and others—was essentially an historical
incident. It is, of course, a matter of indifference
whether we concur in this view or not; at all events,
as a work of art Lentz’s great canvas was in the
very front rank of the competing pictures, and
modern Polish painting, especially in so far as the
art production of Warsaw is concerned, has been
enriched by a very capable and mature piece of
work.

Stanislaw Lentz, who is now at the head of the
Warsaw School, belongs to the older generation of

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